Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Head To Illinois For Final Tuneup Before MAC Meet
October 16, 2003 | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 16, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University cross country teams have one final race remaining before the Mid-American Conference Championships. The Falcons of head coach Cami Wells will head to the Champaign-Urbana, Ill., area for Saturday's (Oct. 18) Pack It Up Illini Challenge. The meet, hosted by the University of Illinois, begins with the men's 8K race at 9:45 a.m. CT, followed by the women's 5K race at 10:30 a.m. CT.
The course winds through the University of Illinois Arboretum and Hartley Gardens, located at 1800 S. Lincoln Avenue in Urbana.
DIRECTIONS TO THE COURSE
Interstate 75 North to I-80 West. Take I-80 West to I-57 South, and take I-57 South to the University Avenue exit. Exit East onto UniversityAvenue and proceed into Champaign. Turn right on Mattis Avenue. Turn left on Kirby Avenue. Turn right onto Lincoln Avenue, and the course will be on the left.
Teams scheduled to compete at Saturday's meet include Cincinnati, DePaul, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, Wright State and MAC foes Miami (women's team only), Northern Illinois (women's team only) and Ohio, in addition to the Falcons and host Illini.
"This is a good quality meet with several very competitive teams and individuals," said Wells. "This is an excellent opportunity for us to race against good competition and prepare ourselves for the MAC meet.
"This will also serve as the final meet to determine the travel squad for the conference race. We are allowed nine runners per team (at the MAC Championships), but I will only take those that are racing well and ready to run. So if that ends up being six or seven runners, that is what we will take."
The women's team is coming off a tie for 11th place at the 32-team Auburn Invitational (Oct. 10). Senior Amber Culp paced the BGSU women, placing 10th overall of 272 individuals at that race. It marked the 12th consecutive time Culp has led the Falcon women, dating to last season.
The BGSU women's team has broken into the latest cross country rankings, and the Falcons head to Illinois ranked 15th in the Great Lakes Region.
Edwin Cheruiyot paced the BG men in the Auburn Invite. BGSU finished 23rd as a team in Alabama.
"I expect the women to have a much closer pack between runners one through five than last week," said Wells. "They have prepared themselves well in practice and they are ready for Saturday.
"The men have to regroup and refocus after last week. It is important for them to race as a team and really get the most out of themselves this weekend."
As mentioned, Saturday's race marks the Falcons' final action before the MAC Championships, which will be held on Sat., Nov. 1 at Akron.
Wells' tentative travel squad for the men includes senior Jake Smith, juniors Kris Lachowski and Steve Vairetta and freshmen Vivien Briard, Cheruiyot, Edgar Ramirez and Jeff Wright.
"It is important for both teams to race well this weekend in order to go into the conference meet feeling confident and prepared," said Wells. "The men will have to race up to the level of competition in order to be successful.
"The MAC meet is a very competitive, high-level meet. There is no room for mistakes. The meet this weekend will give us a taste of what the MACs will be like."
On the women's side, the tentative travel party includes seniors Culp and Leighann Kramer, juniors Elise Gould, Melissa Krueger and Niki Suitor, sophomores Leslie Carden, Emily Jackson and Caroline Kipchaba and freshmen Bridget Dalic, Andrea Pollack and Kim Settle.
"We have been racing pretty well all season, but we have yet to race really well," said the head coach. "This is our opportunity to race really well against good competition, and truly show what we are capable of as we head into the MAC meet."
